Welcome to the Forum Archive!

Years of conversation fill a ton of digital pages, and we've kept all of it accessible to browse or copy over. Whether you're looking for reveal articles for older champions, or the first time that Rammus rolled into an "OK" thread, or anything in between, you can find it here. When you're finished, check out the boards to join in the latest League of Legends discussions.

[Featured Discussion] Xerath's big problem

I bought xerath early on after his release and since then have tried really hard to make him work, at this point i think ive narrowed down his problem to the fact that his laning during very early levels is simply atrocious, far worse than he deserves. His early spell damage, base stats, mana costs, cooldowns, and non-locus range all suck in addition to a complete lack of pre-6 kill potential and having no real gank escape mechanic. By mid game when you have maxed arcanopulse and locus he feels really strong and satisfying because you can be constantly poking and then repositioning, and your mana costs are reasonable.

Rank 1 Arcanopulse costs 65 mana to deal 75 damage and rank 1 Locus has a freakin 20 second cooldown. Since (in my opinion) xerath is really strong mid through late game i know there needs to be some small trade off for his range during early game, but right now its rediculous

my suggestions:
Lower the mana cost on arcanopulse to 55/62/69/76/83
Lower cooldown on locus of power to 16/13/10/7/4
I say start with that and see where it takes him

I actually find his main problem is due less to damage than to the fact that every spell (except E) essentially roots Xerath, preventing him from reacting quickly to counterattack. There is a delay to enter, then leave Locus of Power (the starting delay is fine, but the exit delay can suck just a bit). With his Q you have to sit through the full ability cast animation, same as for his Ultimate. I'm all for his cool animations, but when you're forced to sit through the full .75 seconds of the Q cast (I'd rather it be root for first .5 seconds, gain movement as the next .25 seconds of the spell finishes) and the duration of his Ult cast time without moving, it makes him very risky to play

As a Xerath player I like how Locus of Power has you make the desicion of risking a root for more damage and range, but when his ultimate and Q have an unwanted delay, something most other Mages don't have, is when things start to look bad for Xerath

(Note: I'm not saying the cast times are bad, just the "I can't move while it casts" part is bad)

Nocturne and Sivir are really difficult to deal with because of the spell shields. Morgana can be an annoying lane to play against as well because she pushes just as well, if not harder than Xerath does.

One thing i've never quite understood is why so many champs who arent supposed to be so very good at AoE damage (which Xerath is all about, full burst is 80% AoE spells) can clear waves so much easier than Xerath? I'm not saying he can't, it just doesn't feel right.

I mean the day i switched my artillery AP to Koggy, i was surprised to realize that with way less AP i could clear waves (instakill caster minions with E+R early, then with just E) much easier than Q-maxing Xerath, by maxing E on Kog. And it comes with a slow. While kog isn't even an acknowledged AP carry as of now.

Why can't poor Xerath do at least that until he has a Deathcap?
Even when he does, caster minions will eventually get tanky enough again to survive Q unless Xe gets insanely fed (God forbid you lose any inhibitor). It just feels wrong, am i missing something?

But he's a snowballer, and his q is his only farming skill and it has bad base damage. You need to get kills to be effective. Another thing if you are a threat getting in range to e is stupid. Also since mid game has most of the fighting you level w second. Or else you'll have to grow serious chops to get in actual range. Making your e a useless skills except for the stun. To top it off the stun isn't even that great. 1.5 seconds is not that fantastic. Furthermore his ult's small aoe is barely able to hit more than one or two people at once. And honestly I doubt it'll be the adc/mage/anyone even important. You have to be in really awkward vulnerable positions to hit them. And what are even the odds of even bursting them from full to zero? Seriously he doesn't have enough ways to deal his damage effectively. Veigar has a way better stun, way better scalings. way better way to get items. He may only be single target, but enemy ad carries and mages don't just stand in groups so you're not likely to hit anyone else with xerath besides your target. Granted veigar isn't as tanky but he gets free ap and a passive that sustains his mana to q all day. If you get chalice even better.

So you're saying it's for people who don't like to use Xerath's kit? Also, the choice to not build void staff doesn't mean you're neglecting your damage - AP actually gives kickbacks to armor from your passive, and flat pen will synergize much better with your kit %pen come S3 (even at level 1 in that spell). Seems to me that void staff is a poor choice on Xerath.

Remember that you can't always go into Locus, the 1+ second delay you will have sit through before you can stun can mean the difference between life and death. S3 Void Staff in Locus if Power gives you can extra 20-40 Flat magic Pen (from 100-200MR), which is pretty hefty. Why you wouldn't is beyond me, when flat and % synergize so well next season. We're talking about the difference between True Damage and 17% reduction here

What if Xerath's passive was Locus of Power, when he stays still for 2-3 seconds he gains increased range and flat magic penetration scaling with level; he then gets a new spell on his W key, I'm thinking a spammable low damage spell and his ult is changed to compensate.

His new W can have armor as a passive and if it's targetted it won't trigger Mage Chains.

One thing i've never quite understood is why so many champs who arent supposed to be so very good at AoE damage (which Xerath is all about, full burst is 80% AoE spells) can clear waves so much easier than Xerath? I'm not saying he can't, it just doesn't feel right.

I mean the day i switched my artillery AP to Koggy, i was surprised to realize that with way less AP i could clear waves (instakill caster minions with E+R early, then with just E) much easier than Q-maxing Xerath, by maxing E on Kog. And it comes with a slow. While kog isn't even an acknowledged AP carry as of now.

Why can't poor Xerath do at least that until he has a Deathcap?
Even when he does, caster minions will eventually get tanky enough again to survive Q unless Xe gets insanely fed (God forbid you lose any inhibitor). It just feels wrong, am i missing something?

Because Xerath relies on his 40% magic pen for damage. His Q has naturally low base damage and ratio because a 4-5 second 500 true damage AoE spell against Champions with 1300 range would be OP as heck. It's damage is less because you get more damage against target's with more MR compared to others.

I remember reading Morello (or someone) saying he was going to suggest making his W make him immune to displacement effects (you know, since he's chained to the ground and all) as a small flavourful buff to help him.

Do you know if that's still happening? I don't play Xerath, but i really liked the idea of it.